Monday, September 24, 2012

There were several angles to the game winning field goal on the final play of the Ravens 31-30 win over New England last night. And that's not even counting the storyline dating back to the role a field goal attempt played in the AFC Championship game last year. The first attempt by Justin Tucker didn't count as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had called a last second icing timeout.

"You
see that all across football, from high school all the way up to here. I really just take the opportunity to take a warm-up shot
at it. I take it for what it's worth. If somebody wants to do that, it
really just gives the guy another opportunity."

The second attempt at the 27 yarder sailed above the upright. Fans are still debating whether it was good or not. Most Baltimore fans seem to think it was good, while most New England fans seem to think it went wide. The officials ruled it good and there was no replay review as noted by former head of officiating Mike Pereira.

"A field goal that goes over the top of an upright is not reviewable because
you cannot determine when exactly the ball is directly over the pole. So that's the rule. I can't tell good or
not. But if I had to guess, I'd say it was good."

"It was pretty cool. It may not have sunk in yet. Hopefully, this is one of many. I relish
the opportunity. It's fun. I'm excited....

I try to make it feel the same, but, at the same time, you can't help
it. There's a lot of emotion. There's a lot of history
between these two teams. It's just one of those things that you accept,
and you've really just got to embrace it and embrace it in the moment....

Bottom line is it went in. That's all I care about. It went in."

With far less discussion and no controversy, Sebastian Janikowski also hit a game winner on the final play yesterday. His 43 yarder gave the Raiders a 34-31 come from behind victory over the Steelers.